A woeful second-half performance resulted in Arsenal's third defeat of the Premier League season. After leading 2-1 at half-time, the defensive frailties that cost the club so dear at the business end of last season came back to hurt them again at Ewood Park.
1st Half
Dominant early possession led to a fine goal from Gervinho - his first for the club, but the warning signs were sounded as Chris Samba missed two headed chances from set-pieces. Added to this, the back four still look as if they are defending as individuals rather than as a unit. They were caught completely square as Yakubu marked his debut appearance for the club by equalising.
Just as Blackburn begun to get a foothold in the match, a wonderful move from Song, Ramsey and Arteta led to a super goal for the Spaniard. The midfield three were working in tandem impressively, especially Song who played a major part in Gervinho's goal as well as Arteta's. As well as providing a roadblock for Blackburn's attacks, his passing was unusually incisive, with a lot of Arsenal's best attacks coming through him. They were also getting a lot of joy down Blackburn's right-hand side, with Bacary Sagna building a concatenative relationship with Gervinho - Gael Givet had a thankless task as he was often outnumbered, with David Hoilett looking disinterested in doing any defending.
2nd Half
By and large, Arsenal's first-half display was pleasing, but watching the match I thought to myself that Blackburn would improve, and that the Gunners would have to be able to weather the occasions when they came under pressure. It was the failure to do this that gave Blackburn the match. As the rain lashed down, Arsenal's chances of a win were washed away.
Two supine attempts to clear the ball from Song and Koscileny led to own goals, and while Arsenal were unlucky that Yakubu wasn't flagged offside for Blackburn's third goal, it wouldn't have been an issue if they had dealt with the initial corner played into the box. 2-1 soon became 2-4. As expected, Blackburn were improved after the break. They were combative, attacked with pace, and Yakubu led the line admirably. But every one of their goals should have been avoided. Wojech Szczesny was once again blameless, and made a stunning save from Hoilett at 2-2 when Arsenal's attempts at an offside trap were again worthy of that famous scene from the film, The Full Monty.
What also alarmed was how Arsenal's midfield failed to get a grip of the middle of the park. Blackburn focused their attacks on wide areas, bypassing the hitherto excellent Song. A tiring Ramsey continuously gave the ball away, and while Arteta showed that he is a class player, he can't be expected to control a midfield on his own.
The creakiness of the defence must have caused fans to tear their hair out, and rip their match tickets in two. They were seldom in a straight line, and this was exacerbated by an injury to Sagna. Johan Djourou was pressed in to emergency service at right-back, and looked uneasy throughout. His failure to prevent Martin Olsson breaking clear down the right was the primary cause of the eventual winning goal.
There was a sad irony to Arsenal's third. A whipped cross from Robin Van Persie, and a bullet header from substitute Marouane Chamakh gave the away side hope with six minutes remaining. It was a goal that you'd normally associate with Blackburn. But as Arsenal roused themselves in the closing minutes, a combination of profligacy from Mertesacker & Chamakh, and fine goalkeeping from Paul Robinson preserved Blackburn's lead, took them off the bottom of the table, and could leave Arsenal in the relegation zone come Monday morning.
Conclusion
In the main, Arsenal can be pleased with their attacking display. Scoring three goals in a game is not to be sniffed at. With Gervinho's suspension over, he'll add increased devil to the attack. Arshavin looked lively, as did Walcott when he came off the bench. Van Persie was a constant threat, and was unlucky not to score himself, and after 16 games without a goal, Chamakh finally ended his scoring drought.
But we all know that's not the problem. Arsenal's defence was a shambles. With Thomas Vermaelen injured, the team look like the Captain of the Titanic; they can see the perilous iceberg, they know the damage it'll do, but are unable to do anything to stop the ship sinking. It's clear that if opposition sides can get past Arsenal's midfield, Szczesny ends up playing teams on his own. It's happening too often to be a freak occurrence: Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, and now Blackburn how exposed every inch of Arsenal's defensive weaknesses.
While the 8-2 loss to United was an embarrassment, what happened at Ewood Park was far worse. United are a fabulous side who will probably win the league. This Blackburn side on the other hand, showed nothing to convince me that they won't be relegated, and yet we conceded four goals against them.
There seems to be a maudlin mood around Arsenal right now that the players are unable to shake off. It bears comparison to the state of Liverpool 12 months ago. 4 wins from the last 16 league games is relegation form, which doesn't correlate with the ability of the squad. There is a problem here that goes deeper than technical skill.
It looks as if the only thing that will keep the board from looking for a new manager are the lack of viable alternatives to Arsene Wenger. While I think Jurgen Klopp would be a good fit, why on earth would he want to swap the Westfalenstadion for the Emirates right now?
ARSENAL (4-3-3)
Szczesny - 7, Sagna - 6 (Djourou - 3), Mertesacker - 5, Koscielny - 4, A.Santos - 5,Song - 6 (Chamakh - 6), Ramsey - 5, Arteta - 6, Gervinho - 7, Van Persie - 6, Arshavin - 6 (Walcott - 6)
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